330 GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF THE ROCK SYSTEMS 



Schizoneura abundantly represented, if it prove any thing, would seem 

 to indicate a Triassic era. But there is little else on which to found any 

 conclusion, if we examine these beds alone. We are, therefore, driven 

 to see what clue to the age of these rocks we can find from a comparison 

 with other countries. 



That which offers us the best means of drawing such a comparison is 

 Australia. There we have beds containing many plants almost all of 

 which are identical specifically with the plants found in these " Damu- 

 da" rocks in India; and there can be little question, that the two series, 

 the plant bearing sandstones and shales of Australia, and these " Damu- 

 da" rocks of India, are at least nearly cotemporaneous, if not truly 

 synchronous. 



It has long been known to Geologists, from the zealous labors of 

 Strzelecki, Clarke, Darwin, Jukes, and others, that stretching at irre- 

 gular intervals along the eastern coast of Australia, and now occurring 

 in detached masses, probably once continuous, there occurred a series of 

 stratified deposits which contained abundantly, in different parts of the 

 range, remains of fossil animals and plants. 



The general section of these is given in clearest detail by Jukes, and 

 we shall quote his words. 



" In the descending order. 



1. Black and "brown sliales (named, I think, by Mr. Clarke, Wyanamatta 



shales) 300 feet and upwards. 



2. The Sydney sandstone, (or Hawksbury Sandstone), thick sandstones, with 



a few thin beds of s^iale in its upper and lower parts; about 700 or 800 feet. 



3. Alternations of sandstone and shale ; about 400 feet. 



4. Alternations of sandstone and shale, with much fossil wood (often drifted) 



and some beds of Coal ; 200 or 300 feet. 



5. Wollongong sandstones, with calcareous concretions, containing many 



fossil shells and corals, and some fossil wood; 300 or 400 feet." 

 From these rocks Strzelecki brought to England a good collection of 

 fossils, which were examined and described by Lonsdale, Morris, &c. 



